Reflection
by arcanioque
Summary: Kakashi lies when he says he does not have a favorite pupil. [Kakashi, Sasuke] No pairings, Kakashi’s POV.


Reflection

_kakashi, sasuke._

_i see you, in me. _

_kakashi's pov. _

_**loosely based on naruto episode #39, 40**_

naruto no belong to me.

pardon possible OOC-ness, misquoted (on purpose...am too lazy to check the actual words they say in the episodes) quotes ehehe and erh...OOC-ness. Yeah, you get an OOC Kakashi, duh.

_Kakashi lies when he says he does not have a favorite pupil. Kakashi, Sasuke. No pairings, Kakashi's POV. _

_-_

I lie when people ask me the question, "Who's your favorite student among all three? C'mon, surely you have one." My answer will be a scoff (though you can't see it with my mask on), and a simple closure of my eyes, and a dismissive, "...I don't have a favorite student."

"Are you sure?" These people will be annoying, and will press on without letting up.

And annoyed, I will squint at them with lazy, narrowed eyes. "Yo, I'm not like any other sensei."

"Huh?" And they'll give me the blur, confused look.

"Having a favorite student will be unfair to the other two," I always tell them, and they'll shoot me strange looks, pretend they understand, and walk away. They'll stop bugging me.

But you see, I lied.

Because _you_ are my favorite student.

Naruto's confidence impresses me all the times. And the way he fights - his will is awfully insurmountable. That chum doesn't give up easily, he goes all the way. That's one trait that has made me proud of him. Sakura, too, has grown into a strong medicine nin, and she's made me pround countless times - like when I learnt about the ordeal when she had to cut her hair.

Demo, you're a different matter altogether.

When I see you, I see myself, in you.

You're an avenger. You have a sad past. You don't tell your dreams in easy ways. Your heart is filled with hatred. Yet you're a prodigy through and through, and you're a user of the Sharingan like me. The fight there with the Sound Nin when you had had your cursed seal, and your will to fight it back - that's when I learnt something.

I don't notice it all the time, and to be honest, didn't notice it till my eternal rival Gai had simply put it across in easy words to me. We've both just watched you win the fight with a copy move of Rock Lee's taijutsu skill. Gai had made a passing comment - but in that one sentence, he's made me learn something more.

"It's something like what you would have done if you were younger, eh?" He says.

And I hadn't shown it - but my eyes had widened.

Gai continues. "He reminds me of you, Kakashi."

And that's when I notice.

I watched you with careful eyes.

Fire in yours. Sharingan. Cold, anti-social. Introvert. Snide. Caustic. Cynical. Skeptical. Alone.

Before you could have collapsed onto the ground, I've already flown down, to push you back into sitting position with my knee. You look up at me, silent gratitude in your eyes. And I remember that was how I used to treat Yondaime-sensei, too. I didn't always say much to him, demo, he understood my wordless gestures. He would always tell me they mean a lot more than any words I could offer.

"I'll take you to the back room to seal your curse." I tell you, and also let you know that you shouldn't rebel my orders again.

But then, I was like this, too. Can't remember the last time I actually obeyed Yondaime-sensei's orders when he was still around with us.

Funny, how I'm remembering so much of the past me when I see you.

Now, you're stripped half-bare before me, and I set my eyes upon that cursed mark the abdominable Orochimaru has made. I lean forward, and say quietly, "It'll hurt, but bear with it just a while."

And I hear you scream in pain.

...I sounded like this, too, when I held my head and cried the night when Obito died.

"So," a familiar, eerie voice that I don't wish to hear begins to speak from behind, sending a chill down my spine, "I see you've improved. You've learnt sealing techniques now, Kakashi."

Speak of the devil. No pun intended.

He tells me he intends to use you like a pawn to advance himself towards his goals. It disgusts me. "He's a supreme piece of my plans." He says, and takes steps into your direction.

I waylay his path.

"You won't hurt him." A statement, not question. Fierce, firm, determined, fury, rage.

I surprise myself sometimes. I never know I could be protecting someone with such fierceness again. The last time I did remember...was with my teammates, still.

And here I am, protecting someone important to me.

Yes, funny, isn't it? Strange, even. That such a young boy has endeared himself to me. That if Orochimaru even dares lay a finger on that boy, I know I won't hesitate to kill.

I've even pushed myself to unleash Lightning Blade- usually one of the last few resorts of mine, on Orochimaru - to protect you.

"You'll give up on your own life even?" He mocks me.

And then I remember you, Uchiha Sasuke.

_You _are my favorite pupil.

I look behind my shoulders, and my eyes settle upon your frail, pale, fallen body. You still have your dreams to fulfil. Friends who await you. You still have to await somebody to come into your life to take away the loneliness from your side.

I turn back to that demon, and gather Chakra in my hands. "Yes."

Gai was right, for once.

Because when I see you, I am reminded of myself back when I was still in Yondaime-sensei's team, with Rin, and Obito.

Because when I see you, I see myself in you.

Just because, you're like me, Sasuke.

You're so much like me.

**owari **


End file.
